Jenise wrote:I meant what are good hard, aged cheeses à la Parmigiano reggiano, Zamorano, etc. These don't have lactose, ergo I am able to eat them. IIRC the process was a little similar to malolactics.

No idea to the second question.

Lactose intolerance is caused by failure of the small intestines to secrete the digestive enzyme lactase, which splits up the disaccharide lactose (milk sugar) into its component monosaccharides glucose and galactose. Without lactase, the lactose remains in the gut, where it's fermented by bacteria that produce gas and other intestinal irritants. The result is various sorts of tummy upsets such as bloating, flatulence, and diarrhea. Most unpleasant.

All mammals secrete lactase as infants. Most, including most humans, lose the ability to secrete lactase once weaned. Caucasians and their descendants in Europe, Western Asia, and the Indian subcontinent are among the few ethnic groups that still secrete lactase as adults, although even among these folks lactase secretion can suddenly cease during adulthood. Lactose intolerance is thought to be why Chinese and other East Asian cuisines are almost completely devoid of milk products.

Aged cheeses, and yogurt, are often digestible by those with lactose intolerance because the microorganisms in the cheese/yogurt have digested all or most of the lactose.

There's also a product on the market (Lactaid is one US brand) that is a preparation containing the lactaid enzyme. You eat some of this before or with a meal containing lactose and the enzyme in the supplement replaces the natural lactase, allowing you to digest milk products in comfort.

I can't remember where I ran across it (TV? Book?) but I recall a story where the Vikings of Lief Ericson, landed in North America, bringing cattle with them. To make peace with the local Inuit tribe, they invited them to a banquet and fed all the Inuits milk. The Inuits all got sick and declared war, thinking the Vikings were trying to poison them, and drove the Vikings out of North America.

Howie Hart wrote:the Vikings of Lief Ericson, landed in North America, bringing cattle with them. To make peace with the local Inuit tribe, they invited them to a banquet and fed all the Inuits milk. The Inuits all got sick and declared war, thinking the Vikings were trying to poison them, and drove the Vikings out of North America.

This mooooving event was retribution for the Indians giving the Vikings skunky labrusca wine which made them throw up....thus constituting the first review of wine from native North American grapes......